Kerala govt spent Rs 13 lakh to invite football superstar Lionel Messi; he won't be coming: Report

The Kerala government had spent Rs 13 lakh on Sports Minister V Aburahiman's visit to Spain in order to invite football superstar Lionel Messi, contradictory to earlier claims that no public money would be used, TOI reported.

The minister was accompanied by Sports Department Secretary and Director of Sports and Youth affairs had said that it would "not cost a single rupee" to invite Messi to Kerala.

However, Aburahiman recently confirmed that the football legend and the Argentinian team will not be visiting Kerala. The team had difficulties to travel to India in October, the only month the sponsors of the offered to host the event in.


The minister had earlier said that Messi and the team would visit Kerala in October or November, adding that they would be treated as state guests with the government taking care of security, accommodation and logistics.

Argentinian national team has a massive fan following in Malappuram and Kozhikode districts. It only grew stronger when the team, led by Messi, won the World Cup in 2022.

Abdurahiman himself hails from Malappuram and had been actively working to bring Messi to the state. TOI sources suggest that there were political motivations behind the move with local body elections scheduled for December and assembly elections in April-May next year.

Messi not visiting Kerala takes a political turn

The issue has taken a political turn, with opposition Congress on Saturday urging the Kerala government to clarify its stance on the reported allegation of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) that the world champion team's visit to the state was cancelled because of the government's violation of contract norms.

KPCC Chief Sunny Joseph and Congress Lok Sabha MP Shafi Parambil took a dig at the Left government in the state, saying the "Lionel Messi is missing". They sought an answer from the authorities.

"The state government should give a reply in this regard because they are being accused in the matter. Lakhs of rupees have already been spent. Now, the AFA itself has made things clear. The people of the state should know the facts," he told reporters here.

Sharing similar views, Parambil accused the CPI (M)-led government of misusing the football admirers' love for Messi and Argentina.

"The attempt of the state government was to get the credit for bringing the Argentine football team. They cheated the people. Now, the AFA itself has made it clear that the state government has violated the contract," he said.

It is the Pinarayi Vijayan government that should explain things and clarify their stand in the issue, the MP said adding that the authorities should not have "politically misused" the football fans' love and admiration towards Messi and Argentina team.

(With TOI and agency inputs)